How I Came Up with my DOPE Yoga and why...
Yoga found me on a late September afternoon in 2008. I was enjoying a book on my day off that was all about the music business. Instead the Author went on and on about meditation. I decided to go ahead and try the exercises since he was doing it and I thought he was pretty cool. I fell in love instantly and I couldn't get enough. Through the breathing techniques, I found a sense of euphoria and peace that I had not been able to capture my entire 29 years of life. That is when I knew my life would never be the same.
From that moment on, I took weekend immersion workshops, teacher training and anything that I could get my hands on to get more yoga and meditation in my life. Yoga has definitely been a journey in finding my way. It is not always colorful or inclusive in many spaces. Per usual, I would be the only black person in class and many times in an entire studio.
Despite my insecurities, I continued my yoga and the more deeply I rooted into my practice, the more I began to accept myself. That's how I knew that yoga was working for me. I was able to observe and accept myself, most days anyway.
Then a couple years later, while in cobra yoga pose I decided that I wanted to teach. I took a few weekend immersion classes and began teaching at the YMCA and other small spaces and groups.
In January 2013, I completed 200 yoga teacher training and started teaching as a sub in a local studio, but I still wanted more. I kept practicing and teaching.
In 2016, my Mommy was working at the Bernard Brown Community Center. She always talked about a nice woman that would keep her company until her yoga class started in the evenings. Later she would go on to tell me that this was actually Geni with Yogamour. By this time, I was a lot more cautious about where I taught, but my Mommy convinced me to remain ‘open minded’.
Geni invited me to take the Yogamour Trauma Informed Yoga Training and I fell in love all over again. I’ll admit that I was afraid to work with populations that were deemed ‘traumatized’ because of my presence — because of who I am. I thought that I would further traumatize people! But it was just the opposite. Folks were comfortable with me. They opened up. They were excited and adventurous. I knew that this was the work that would forever pull at my heart strings!
My passion had been drawn towards working with marginalized populations such as juvie, addiction recovery and at-risk popualtions in rehab, detention and recovery. That has been my heart’s journey for the last past year and it just keeps growing. I believe if you start early with these mindfulness practices, it can become a way of life and that has been my goal for these babies. I am bringing Dope Yoga to my community.
The conception of Dope Yoga: Dope Yoga is a state of mind. It is a lifestyle and way of being. I knew that I loved the way yoga made me feel and the way I could intentionally create and recreate these feelings of euphoria and self-acceptance.
In the brain, dopamine functions as a neurotransmitter—a chemical released by neurons (nerve cells) to send signals to other nerve cells. The brain includes several distinct dopamine pathways, one of which plays a major role in the motivational component of reward-motivated behavior
When dopamine is released in large amounts, it creates feelings of pleasure and reward which motivates you to repeat a specific behavior. So, I came up with my own version of Dope (dopamine) Yoga and the logo which is the formation of the chemical molecular structure. We have our own supply — our own internal pharmacy and through Dope Yoga, we all can work to boost dopamine levels in the brain and up-regulate the number of receptors in the reward areas of the brain. And then what? We all feel better, get stronger and look great!
Dope Yoga is about practicing the poses to achieve a state of peace and relaxation which had been difficult for me in the past. I had always been pretty high strung — always moving and busy. My Dope Yoga practice allowed me to create a feeling of tranquility inside which translated outside. It has been so awesome to be able to create that feeling time and time again. I love that I am able to share this practice with my community!
I did realized something along this yoga journey though. I really needed some comfortable and affordable yoga gear that fit a body like mine. I wanted to represent yoga and be myself. I couldn't fit into those little tiny yoga clothes that you see in yoga studios! My shoulders are always too wide, my ass too big and I just didn't really connect with ‘name brand’ companies. So I created my Dope Yoga clothing line which offers roomy comfy clothing. And my logo on the clothes, gives me the opportunity to talk with people about Dope Yoga and the science behind it!
Let me share my practice with you. Check out the Yogamour website for my classes and keep an eye out for my workshops! Don’t forget to look for my clothing line at the Yogamour Boutique!
See you soon!
Peace,
Danica